1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ball game kit for providing game play on a surface; and more particularly to a ball game kit having a rope/cable court assembly and a plurality of light-weight, portable, items needed to play a tennis-like game on a beach, or on a grassy area, that can easily be carried and set-up with minimal effort.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recreational sport activities are frequently played at parks, beaches, or other outside areas. However, areas remote from one's home or playground, can present an environment that creates complexities for game play, especially when a plethora of equipment is needed, as well as a playing court. Currently, games played on the beach either sizeable equipment. For example, with volley ball a substantially sized net, poles and stabilizing stakes must be securely erected in the sand. Other games played on the beach involve simple activities such as catch or Frisbee. Drawing lines in the sand and utilizing makeshift devices are required for other game playing.
Various playing field or court assembly apparatuses have been provided appointed for set-up in recreational areas, however these apparatuses fail to provide a gaming kit and only include a court assembly. Moreover, the court assemblies disclosed fail to provide a game playing court that can be readily adjusted by simply folding or unfolding a unilateral court assembly. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,913 to Safina discloses a game apparatus having upstanding goal posts positioned at four corners to secure boundary strips and upstanding center posts for securing a center strip, wherein the playing field width may be increased or decreased but adjustment requires removing the goal posts from the ground and re-snapping the goal line strip at the desired width; U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,813 to Rathjen discloses a playing field layout for playing a game such as a “Frisbee” including a rectangular field divided by a skip court made of hardened material for bouncing an object, and wherein the field may be divided lengthwise by a center line to yield two smaller and equal sub-areas for four players but cannot be readily expanded in width; U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,243 to Raub discloses a portable playing court demarcation apparatus comprising a flexible outer boundary demarcation element; U.S. Pat. No. 7,192,030 to Murphy discloses a game of throw and catch providing a playing field having first and second scoring areas and out-of-bounds areas; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0049425 to Butler discloses a Four Square and Volleyball game played with a 3D playing field. These game apparatuses are merely court assemblies, and are not gaming kits that provide requisite game play equipment along with the court assembly. Moreover, none of these court assemblies provide the ability to simply expand/condense the width of the field to readily yield a doubles/singles court, via fold lines.
Conversely, other gaming apparatuses fail to provide a court assembly, and only provide discrete items for game play. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,978 to Cooper discloses a game racket; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,692 to Kessler discloses a carry-all with indicia mounting means. These gaming apparatuses are merely appointed to be utilized in conjunction with other equipment, and do not provide game playing kits with a court assembly and playing equipment.
Even where game playing kits have been provided, these kits fail to provide a kit appointed with a plurality of gaming equipment and a unilateral playing court assembly having fold lines for ready adjustment from a singles to a doubles court, and vise versa, in an accurate effortless manner requiring no measuring or calibration. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,968 to Peterson discloses a game apparatus for the playing of mini-volleyball by two players disposed in a sitting or kneeling position, including a ball and corner weights having a flexible cord extending therebetween and defining a rectangular playing court divided in half by a detachable height adjusting net; U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,996 to McNutt, et al. discloses a two-handed paddle ball game, and a paddle for playing the game, wherein two separate court entities are formed from stretching cords around pegs, and wherein the two separate courts must be spaced apart a given area to form a dead zone; U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,392 to Nixon discloses a court game apparatus, game method and playing court including a small resilient ball, at least two paddles having a solid, substantially rigid striking surface, and a playing court divided into two opposing playing zones of equal size; U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,478 to Kessler discloses a kit for a racket game including a plurality of rubber balloons which can be inflated with water, a net and posts and a plurality of special rackets and a carrier, as well as at least one ball; U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,669 to Kanda discloses a transportable playing court, having non-ball-confining boundaries; U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,980 to Trotman discloses a kick bag game and apparatus kit for playing providing opposing teams divided into two zones by a medially positioned portable reticulated net; U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,583 to Deppen discloses a paddle ball game including at least two hitting devices, a resilient projectile and at least two eight foot squares spaced twelve feet apart; and Foreign Publication No. GB2082923 to Zimm discloses a kit for playing games of the type in which a missile is projected across a net or space, providing a set of colored discs for defining zones together with a pair of bats and a missile.
None of these gaming kits provide a kit appointed with a plurality of gaming equipment and a unilateral playing court assembly having fold lines for ready adjustment from a singles to a doubles court. Several of these gaming kit's court assemblies provide courts that can only form game play for two to four players by dividing the game court, not by increasing the game court's width so that each player is to remain in their respective box or otherwise trip over the court line divide while playing. Others provide separate play courts set-up as two distinct play areas placed separate from one another to form a zone therebetween rather than providing a unilateral court assembly. As a result, the two separate courts must be set-up and measuring required to ensure a proper or constant distance is spaced between the separate courts.
Notwithstanding the efforts of prior art workers to construct game kits for set-up and play in recreational areas, there remains a need in the art for a ball game kit that includes a plurality of gaming equipment, pieces, and a court assembly disposed in a carrying bag or container. In addition, there exists an art recognized need for a ball game kit that includes a unilateral playing court assembly that can readily be placed on a surface and secured thereto to yield a game playing court and a dead zone. Moreover, there is a need in the art for a ball game kit having a unilateral playing court assembly having fold lines integrated therein for ready adjustment in width from a singles to a doubles court.